Congress eye on Rahul Gandhi amid debate on leadership challenge

Clamour for internal elections for the post of Congress President is on the rise as party faces “leadership challenges” in the aftermath of the electoral debacle.

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday made a pitch for internal elections for top party posts, including the Congress Working Committee (CWC), even as a section of the leadership strongly favoured return of Rahul Gandhi to the top party post.

Tharoor said dozens of party leaders across the country were keen for settlement of the “leadership question” faced by the Congress, particularly after Rahul Gandhi's clear indication that he was not keen on the top post.

“I renew my appeal to CWC to hold leadership elections to energise workers and inspire voters,” Tharoor said.

Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam dismissed the discussion on the leadership question as “inane” and asserted that “no one from outside the family can lead Congress at this juncture”.

“Rahul Gandhi is the only leader who can lead the party and can save it. Other leaders are just a group leader & such leaders at the helm will encourage more groupism. Period,” Nirupam said.

Congress snubbed the public discussion over the leadership issue asking Dikshit and Nirupam to introspect their contributions to the organisation during the recent round of elections.

On Tharoor's remarks, Congress chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala said it was the CWC that had elected the party president. “If any person has any doubt in this regard, he can read carefully the resolution of the CWC before making any remarks,” he said.

Earlier this month, Rahul had conveyed it to party leaders that he was not keen to return as Congress President even as his loyalists launched a campaign demanding that he assume the top post.

A senior Congress leader said that if Rahul has refused to return as Congress President, he can be persuaded to do a re-think on the decision taken by him.

“The leader must be accepted from Mizoram to Porbandar and the party is considering all the factors in place. The leader has to be a homogeneous entity accepted to all,” the leader said rejecting demands for a non-Gandhi at the helm of party affairs.

Rahul was elected un-opposed as Congress President in 2017, but he stepped down from the post owning responsibility for the drubbing suffered by the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The CWC accepted his resignation at a meeting in August and appointed Sonia Gandhi as the interim President.